Forget football: This is the Grid League

In the National Pro Grid League, two co-ed teams compete in a series of functional fitness tests. Here, the New York Rhinos take on the Los Angeles Reign on August 19.

League games take place on a 94-by-50-foot grid, split up into eight quadrants -- four for each team.

Tony Budding, a 10-year CrossFit executive, left the mega-brand to try to create a spectator sport with greater mass appeal.

Every team roster must have 20 athletes -- 10 men and 10 women. On game day, five men and five women are selected to start the match.

The two-hour match features 11 different races that progress across the grid.

For each battle, the winning team gets two points (three in the last race), and the losing team gets one.

Players can tag in and out to keep pace during each race, or if they're incapable of completing one more rep.

Playoffs for the league will begin in September, and will culminate in the Grid League Finals in Las Vegas, to be aired on NBC Sports on October 3.

HIDE CAPTION

The new sport of functional fitness

The new sport of functional fitness

The new sport of functional fitness

The new sport of functional fitness

The new sport of functional fitness

The new sport of functional fitness

The new sport of functional fitness

The new sport of functional fitness

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

National Pro Grid League was started by CrossFit executive Tony Budding

League games take place on a 94-by-50-foot grid, split up into eight quadrants

Two-hour match pits includes 11 different races that progress across the grid

(Life by DailyBurn) -- Hold onto your foam fingers, football fans. There's a new league in town, and it's all about fast and furious fitness.

Combining weightlifting, bodyweight movements, gymnastics and more, the National Pro Grid League has drafted some of the most able-bodied athletes in the world, split them into eight teams, and is letting their strength, strategy and collective badass-ness determine the score.

The best part: Grid doesn't discriminate. Men and women compete against and alongside each other, players over 40 are integral to the mix, and all-around athletes and specialists can each make a difference when it counts.

So how does the team sport plan to change the face of fitness? DailyBurn went Grid-side as the New York Rhinos faced off against the Los Angeles Reign to witness the action at the first match of the inaugural 2014 season.

Sure, the idea of team functional fitness isn't exactly new. If the CrossFit Games come to mind when watching Grid athletes clean, jerk and kip at lightning speeds, it's no coincidence. The league's founder and commissioner is Tony Budding, a 10-year CrossFit executive who left the mega-brand to create a true co-ed spectator sport with greater mass appeal.

Taking cues from the NFL and NBA, in April 2014, Budding kicked things off with a football-esque Grid League Combine (athletes were selected via invite and application), which put hopefuls through every imaginable fitness test, from squats to handstand walks.

Next came a traditional style draft in July, where coaches from the eight squads selected the best men and women for their rosters — factoring in not just their combine performance and fitness resume, but also personality and overall "fit" for the team.

Once the teams were stacked, players were off to team training camp (albeit some no more than a week long), followed by pre-season scrimmages to get familiar with the ins and outs of league play, because no, it's not exactly intuitive.

Unlocking the Grid: How it works

The action takes place on a 94-by-50-foot grid, split up into eight quadrants (four for each team) plus a start and finish area. Every team roster must consist of 20 athletes -- 10 men and 10 women, and on game day, only five men and five women are selected to start the match (including one 40-plus athlete of each gender).

If anything goes wrong, injury or otherwise, three athletes are on standby on each team's bench.

The two-hour match pits two teams against one another in 11 different races that progress across the grid. Races -- some of which are coed, some of which are male or female-only -- can include anything from handstand push-ups, burpee box jumps, rope climbs and double-unders for time.

Then there's the "clean ladder," where athletes must lift progressively heavier loads as they move down the grid (topping the scales at 340 pounds!), with the weight of each player's lifts added together for a combined team score.

For each battle, the winning team gets two points (exception being the last race which counts for three points), and the losing team gets one. If the squad doesn't complete the challenge, they walk away with zero points for that race. When all is said and done, the team with the highest number of points at the end of the match gets the W.

Of course, it's not just about brute strength and top-end speeds. There's plenty of strategy involved: Players can tag in and out to keep pace during each race or if they're incapable of completing one more rep. But don't consider a minute on the sidelines much of a break.

"When you're competing as an individual you can find your own pace and if you mess up, you have a longer time to make up for it," says Annie Thorsidottir, captain of the New York Rhinos. "But on the grid, everything is so fast and high-intensity that you need to move fast while you're out there. If you start slowing down, it's time to rotate and change out. You need to be moving full speed, all the time."

Rhinos co-captain Mat Fraser, who also earned second place at the 2014 CrossFit Games, says the relentless speed is something Grid athletes, himself included, will need to adjust to.

"It's just all-out until the tank is empty. I have never done 20 burpees over a box that fast... " Fraser says of the 9th race, one of the more challenging from his first match. "When I hit that finish line -- I usually try to stay standing -- but I just flopped down. There was nothing left."

It's this high-octane format that brought spectators to their feet in the last few seconds of each battle at Madison Square Garden. It's also what might just hold the attention of fans for seasons to come, says New York Rhinos coach Ian Berger.

According to Budding, there's plenty of potential for the players, too, stating that one of the many goals with this new league is to make functional fitness something the best in the world can finally make a living at.

"The icing on the cake is that my parents competed at Madison Square Garden when they were athletes," said Fraser, whose parents were professional pairs figure skaters.

Faster together: The road ahead

In this abbreviated first season, teams will play three matches each, giving fans 12 live events total (and ideally adequate time for the league to work out any remaining kinks). In 2015, teams are slated to play 12 matches apiece; in 2016 and beyond: 16 matches.

Playoffs will commence in September, and will culminate in the Grid League Finals in Las Vegas, to be aired on NBC Sports on October 3. The ultimate prize: the Pinnacle trophy (and a coveted place in Grid history).

Until then, fans can watch regular season match-ups on NPGL.com via web broadcast. Or, check out the 2014 schedule to find an event near you. For 2015, expect eight more teams to join the league, including the Carolina Crush and others to be announced later this year.

Prefer to get in on the action yourself? There's always next year's Grid League Combine. Start practicing those cleans today!